Celt (tool)

Celt (pronounced /IPA|sɛlt/) is an archaeological term used to describe long thin prehistoric stone or bronze adzes, other axe-like tools, and hoes.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the term had largely been abandoned by archaeologists, who were beginning to classify the tools into more precise sub-groups. It remains in use in a few specific artifact types such as the Danubian and Shoe-last celts, as well as in Olmec studies.

Etymology

The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became enshrined in the authoritative Sixto-Clementine printed edition of 1592; however the Codex Amiatinus, for example, does not contain the mistake. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-8388%28192507%2F10%291%3A19%3A3%2F4%3C192%3AFP%5BP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage Floscvli Philoxenei, M. L. W. Laistner, The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 3/4 (Jul. - Oct., 1925), pp. 192-195, JSTOR] , see also [https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9507&L=CELTIC-L&P=2539 "Match 2" here] ] In the passage: "Stylo ferreo, et plumbi lamina, vel certe sculpantur in silice" (It is indeed carved with an iron pen on a plate of lead or in stone), the "certe" ("indeed") was spelled as "celte" by mistake, which would have to be the ablative of a non-existent third declension noun "celt" or "celtis", the ablative case giving the sense "with/by a celt". This is now considered to be the case by most scholars, although some are still prepared to consider the existence of a real Latin word. A 'Celt' was thus wrongly assumed to be a type of ancient chisel. Eighteenth century antiquarians then adopted the word for the stone and bronze tools they were finding at prehistoric sites.

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